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House Rules
'House Rules and Home Brews' A collection of new and altered rules and in-game options. 'MERITS' Dual Kith (•• to '•••)' ''CtL: Rites of Spring, p88 'Effect:'Add the following after the last paragraph: A character may purchase this Merit a second time at Wyrd 5 and a third time at Wyrd 9. Regardless of how many times this Merit is purchased, a character may not choose kiths from more than two different seemings. 'Fighting Style: Dirty Fighting (• to '''•••••)' ''VtR: Night Horrors - Count Fucking Dracula, p4 '''Low Blow (•')' Effect: Replace the last sentence with the following: A successful Brawl attack made against an individual applies a wound penalty that lasts for one turn. This penalty is equal to the number of successes generated by the successful attack - the Composure of the individual struck and is not cumulative.' ' Shank (••') Effect:' Replace the content of this section with the following: You can fight with any size 1 or smaller weapons, improvised or otherwise, using your Brawl skill instead of Weaponry. One or a Dozen, It Don't Matter (•••• ') Effect: '''Replace the last sentence with the following: After being attacked by an opponent in close combat each additional opponent that makes one or more attacks against you increases your Defense by 1. This bonus lasts for one turn. On your turn you can spend a point of Willpower each to make up to one additional Brawl attack against an opponent that attacked you in close combat since your last turn. '''I Said Stay Down! (•••••') Effect: 'Replace the content of this section with the following: A successful Brawl attack made against an individual now causes them to lose their next action if they would suffer a wound penalty from Low Blow. 'CONTRACTS Contracts of Serendipity Etymologically, serendipity is defined as finding riches one wasn’t seeking, and also refers to especially fortuitous turns of fate. These Contracts allow the Lost to do and say things that take best advantage of timing and circumstance and are considered affinity Contracts for Fairest. • 'Turn of Phrase The changeling seems to know the exact thing to say to defuse a tense situation or spark a violent confrontation. The character must be capable of communicating with the target to use this power. That is, they must have a language in common. Turn of Phrase functions over telephones and even over non-verbal forms of communications, including instant messaging programs and even written letters (though of course the latter takes some time to have an effect). Cost: '''1 Glamour '''Dice Pool: '''Expression + Wyrd '''Action: '''Instant '''Catch: '''The changeling has not been introduced to one or more of the people participating in a conversation or to whom they are writing a message to. The player can make this roll immediately upon entering a social situation: a conversation, a diplomatic debate, writing a letter and so on. The power doesn’t take effect immediately, though (see below). '''Roll Results Dramatic Failure: '''Whatever effect the character was going for, her words have the opposite effect. A phrase meant to calm an angry comrade might push him into frenzy, while a letter meant to poison an ally against the changeling’s enemy encourages his trust. '''Failure: '''The character receives no bonus or penalty, and must rely upon her raw social acumen. '''Success: '''A number of turns equal to (5 – the character’s successes) after the initial roll is made, the character receives a burst of inspiration on what to say to achieve her desired result. This can have one of two game effects. The Storyteller can either suggest an appropriate phrase (by passing a note, in private conversation, etc.), or the player can simply receive a +3 modifier to an appropriate Social roll. Letters, obviously, do not suffer from this delay, as the character can simply wait until inspiration hits to start writing. '''Exceptional Success: '''The character can apply the effects of the power immediately. '''Suggested Modifiers Modifier Situation +1 The participants / recipients are already predisposed toward the changeling’s goal. –1 The participants / recipients are opposed to the changeling’s goal. ••''' '''Guided Steps With this power, the Lost takes advantages of fortuitous circumstances, avoiding danger and harm. Cost: '''1 Glamour '''Dice Pool: Wits + Wyrd Action: Reflexive Catch: … Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The character’s efforts of manipulate fortune in her favor backfire and the attack against her gains a +2 bonus. Failure: The character receives no bonus or penalty, and must defend herself normally. Success: Against an attack that allows the character to apply her Defense, the character my increase her Defense by half her Wyrd (rounded-up). Against an attack that does not allow the character to apply her Defense, the character may now apply her Defense. In either case the benefits of this clause only last long enough to affect a single attack. Exceptional Success: The benefits of this clause last until the start of the character’s next turn. Suggested Modifiers Modifier Situation … ••• 'Perfect Timing' The changeling gains the uncanny ability to arrive, strike, speak or otherwise act at exactly the right time. She always seems to have an edge over others, simply because she doesn’t seem surprised by anything. Cost: '''2 Glamour '''Dice Pool: '''Composure + Wyrd '''Action: Reflexive Catch: … Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The character’s augmented timing is off and instead of applying a bonus to a roll or Initiative, it instead imposes a -2 penalty. Failure: The character receives no bonus or penalty, and acts without a bonus or penalty. Success: Out of combat, Perfect Timing adds an equipment bonus equal to half the character’s Wyrd (rounded-up) to any roll that could conceivably benefit from acting at precisely the right moment. This bonus cannot take the total bonus, including any other modifiers, above +5, however. This power lasts long enough to affect a single roll. This power cannot be used for extended actions and this bonus applies only to rolls in which timing matter. For example, the bonus would apply to an attempt to catch a thrown object, but would not apply to an attempt to interpret a message written in a foreign language. In combat, Perfect Timing adds half the character’s Wyrd (rounded-up) to their Initiative score. This is cumulative with any Initiative bonus gained from other effects and lasts for the rest of the scene. Exceptional Success: The out of combat benefits of this clause last for a number of turns equal to the success rolled to activate the power. S'uggested Modifiers' Modifier Situation … •••• 'Prescience' The changeling gains the amazing ability to learn and assimilate new information almost immediately. Through her connection with Serendipity, the Lost is able to “see” the path of progress and be carried along with it. Cost: '''3 Glamour '''Dice Pool: '''Wits + Wyrd '''Action: '''Instant '''Catch: … Roll Results Dramatic Failure: '''The character becomes confused and loses access to much of his knowledge. All of the character’s Skills effectively drop by one dot (meaning that Skills at one dot disappear, imposing the normal Unskilled penalty if the character tries use them). These effects last for the rest of the scene. '''Failure: '''The character gains no knowledge, but can attempt to use this power again after the current scene ends. '''Success: '''The character can distribute a number of dots equal to the successes from the roll among any Skills that he does not possess. No Skill can rise higher than 2 in the manner, however. For instance, if the player rolls four successes and the character has no rating in Computer, Brawl or Persuasion, he can give herself Computer 2, Brawl 1 and Persuasion 1 or Brawl 2 and Computer 2, but not Computer 3 and Brawl 1. This knowledge lasts for the remainder of the scene. Alternately, the character can choose to duplicate the effects of the Encyclopedic Knowledge Merit for the scene (see p. 109 of the '''World of Darkness Rulebook). Exceptional Success: '''Instead of temporarily raising Skill ratings, the character can apply successes toward the experience cost of purchasing new Skills. The usual “cap” of two successes per Skill still applies, though, but the character can apply successes toward Skills in which he already has a rating. For instance, if the character has Computer 1 and wishes to buy Computer 2 (normally six experience points), and the player rolls five or more successes for this power, he can apply two successes toward the cost and pay only four. This must occur in the standard flow of the story; this cannot be used during downtime (because there’d be no reasonable way to control how many times the player could attempt to learn in this manner). '''Suggested Modifiers Modifier Situation … ••••• 'Stars in Alignment' Through the use of this power, the changeling gains phenomenal good fortune, increasing the likelihood of her success many times over. Cost: '''3 Glamour + 1 Willpower '''Dice Pool: '''Manipulation + Wyrd '''Action: '''Instant '''Roll Results Dramatic Failure: '''Events are decidedly not going to go the character’s way. Every roll the player makes for the rest of the scene suffers a –3 penalty. The character can make a Wits + Composure roll (subject to that penalty) to notice that things have gone horribly awry and that it would be a good idea for her to sit tight and ride out the wave of bad luck. If this roll fails, she has no idea that the power failed. '''Failure: '''The character fails at manipulating her own fortune. '''Success: '''For the rest of the scene, rolls the character makes are considered Exceptional Successes with three successes instead of five and any chance rolls she makes may be rerolled. During this time the character may not regain Willpower by any means. '''Exceptional Success: '''This power lasts until the sun next rises or sets and the character may regain Willpower as normal. '''Suggested Modifiers Modifier Situation … EVOLUTION OF THE WYRD Elemental - Apsara Upon reaching Wyrd 7 your Enthralling Mist now adds to Presence as well as Manipulation rolls made to affect that individual during that timeframe. Fairest - Succubus Upon reaching Wyrd 7 you increase your Striking Looks Merit from two dots to four for free. If you already possess the four-dot version, then you gain the Sexualized Merit (VtR: Ghouls, p73) for free. Having this Merit grants a +1 modifier to all Presence or Manipulation rolls when the character is attempting to intimidate, seduce, or distract others.